Out of Competition

MARTINS' PASSION

DIE MARTINS-PASSION



Irene Langemann

Country of production: Germany
Year: 2003
Language: Portuguese, English
Mins: 96

Production company: Lichtfilm
Producers: Wolfgang Bergmann
Script: Irene Langeman
Cinematography: Dieter Sturmer
Editing: Kawe Vakil
Sound: Marc von Stuerel, Christian Lutz
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach

Source: Lichtfilm
Wolfgang Bergmann
Kasparstr. 26,
D-50670 Koln, Germany
Tel + 49 221 972 65 17
Fax + 49 221 972 6518
e-mail: info@lichtfilm.de
www.lichtfilm.de


The life of charismatic star pianist João Carlos Martins is marked by success and personal tragedies, traumatic injuries and triumphant comebacks. In the early sixties, this temperamental Brazilian, who plays soccer as passionately as he plays the piano, was celebrated as the greatest interpreter of the music of Bach next to Glenn Gould. But a disastrous accident threatened his concert career. For decades, comebacks alternated with setbacks. In the late nineties, his days as a pianist seem finished when he underwent surgery to sever the damaged nerves of his right hand. Yet he decided to attempt another comeback. After preparing some of finest repertory for the left hand, disaster struck again when doctors discover a tumor there. This documentary accompanies Martins during his darkest hours, while also tracing his early triumphs. Unique film sequences from his childhood and early years enrich the story. Conversations with his friends the soccer genius Pelé and legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck provide moments of bliss. And in the end, a small miracle occurs.

Irene Langemann was born in Issikul, near Omsk, in what was then the Soviet Union. She majored in acting and German language and literature at Moscow's Tcepkin Drama School and then went on to work as an actress, director and playwright in Moscow. In 1983, she became a presenter for Russian television. In 1990, she emigrated to Germany where she worked until 1996 as a commissioning editor at Deutsche Welle-tv in Cologne. Now she is a free-lance filmmaker.

Filmography:

ICE AND ORANGES (2004)
MARTINS' PASSION (2003)
TO TOUCH THE SOUL - THE PHOTOGRAPHER GERD LUDWIG(2002)
LALE ANDERSEN - THE VOICE OF LILI MARLEEN (2001)
RUSSIA'S WONDER CHILDREN (1998 - 2000)

SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2005 AT 9.00 PM / DOC FILMS
SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2005 AT 2.15 PM. / FACET CINEMATHEQUE